A single-track railway is a railway where trains traveling in both directions share the same track. Single track is usually found on lesser-used rail lines, often branch lines, where the level of traffic is not high enough to justify the cost of constructing a second track.

Single track is significantly cheaper to build, but has operational and safety disadvantages. For example, a single-track line that takes 15 minutes to travel through would have capacity for only two trains per hour in each direction. By contrast, a double track with signal boxes four minutes apart can allow up to 15 trains per hour in each direction, provided all the trains travel at the same speed. This hindrance on the capacity of a single track may be partly overcome by making the track one-way on alternate days, if the single track is not used for public passenger transit.

Long freight trains are a problem if the passing stretches are not long enough. Other disadvantages include the propagation of delays, since one delayed train on a single track will also delay any train waiting for it to pass. Also, a single track does not have a "reserve" track that can allow a reduced capacity service to continue if one track is closed.

If a single-track line is designed to be used by more than one train at a time, it must have passing loops (also called passing sidings or crossing loops) at intervals along the line to allow trains running in different directions to pass each other. These consist of short stretches of double track, usually long enough to hold one train. The capacity of a single-track line is determined by the number of passing loops. Passing loops may also be used to allow trains heading in the same direction at different speeds to overtake.

In some circumstances on some isolated branch lines with a simple shuttle service (such as the Abbey Line in Great Britain) a single-track line may work under the "one train working" principle without passing loops, where only one train is allowed on the line at a time.

On single-track lines with passing loops, measures must be taken to ensure that only one train in one direction can use a stretch of single track at a time, as head-on collisions are a particular risk. Some form of signalling system is required. In traditional British practice (and countries using British practice), single-track lines were operated using a token system where the train driver had to be in possession of a token in order to enter a stretch of single track. Because there was only one unique token issued at any one time for each stretch of single track, it was impossible for more than one train to be on it at a time. This method is still used on some minor lines but in the longest single-track lines in Britain (e.g. the Highlands of Scotland) this has been superseded by radio communication.

In the early days of railways in North America it was common to rely upon simple timetable operation where operators knew where a train was scheduled to be at a particular time, and so would not enter a single-track stretch when they were not scheduled to. This generally worked but was inflexible and inefficient. It was improved with the invention of the telegraph and the ability to issue train orders.

Converting a single-track railway to double track is called duplication or doubling; converting double track to single track is known as singling. A double-track railway operating only a single track is known as single-line working.

Building bike trails on rail corridors has occurred in limited examples, however developing rail right of ways for a bike trail can restrict a train corridor to a single track. Also reclaiming a railway corridor to use trains again, that have become bike paths, limits the use of double tracks. The bike path is usually where the second track would be. An example of a bike, single-track corridor is the E&N Railway in Victoria, Canada.[1]

1.
Monorail
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A monorail is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail. The term is used to describe the beam of the system. Colloquially, the monorail is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style of track, not its elevation, with Mono meaning one, monorails have found applications in airport transfer and medium capacity metros. To differentiate monorails from other modes, the Monorail Society says “Monorail n. A single rail serving as a track for passenger or freight vehicles, in most cases rail is elevated, but monorails can also run at grade, below grade or in subway tunnels. Vehicles either are suspended from or straddle a narrow guide way. Monorail vehicles are wider than the way that supports them. ”Monorails are often elevated, sometimes leading to confusion with other elevated systems such as the Docklands Light Railway, Vancouver SkyTrain and the AirTrain JFK. Monorail vehicles often appear similar to light vehicles, and can be staffed or unstaffed. They can be individual rigid vehicles, articulated single units, or multiple units coupled into trains, unlike some trams and light rail systems, modern monorails are always separated from other traffic and pedestrians. From the passengers perspective, monorails can have advantages over trains, buses. As with other grade-separated transit systems, monorails avoid red lights, intersection turns, as with other elevated transit systems, monorail passengers enjoy sunlight and views and by watching for familiar landmarks, they can know better when to get off to reach their destinations. As with other systems, expensive and noisy ventilation systems are not necessary if the cars have traditional windows that can be opened by passengers, monorails can be quieter than diesel buses and trains. They obtain electricity from the structure, eliminating costly and unsightly overhead power lines and poles. Compared to the train systems of New York, Chicago and elsewhere. See Chicago L Under the Monorail Society beam width criterion, some but not all systems are considered monorails, such as the Transrapid. Maglevs differ from other monorails in that they do not physically contact the beam, the first monorail prototype was made in Russia in 1820 by Ivan Elmanov. Attempts at creating monorail alternatives to conventional railways have been made since the part of the 19th century

2.
British Rail Class 158
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The British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit, built specifically for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by BREL at its Derby Works. They were built to replace many locomotive-hauled passenger trains, and allowed cascading of existing Sprinter units to replace elderly heritage DMUs, the Class 159 DMUs are almost identical to the Class 158s, having been converted from Class 158 to Class 159 in two batches. A total of 182 units were built, the majority were built as two-car sets. 17 units were built as units, eight of these units have since had the centre car removed. The final ten units were built specifically for West Yorkshire PTE Metro services around Leeds, there were three varieties of unit when built. The standard batch, two- and three-car units had 350 hp Cummins engines, the next batch were built as non-standard to enable 350 hp Perkins engines to be fitted. The final batch were given higher-powered Cummins engines of 400 hp, another 22 of these higher-powered units were built, and became three-car Class 159s. Over time, the units have become mixed up as franchises changed, all units use P4-4A and T4-4A bogies. When introduced, British Rail described the Class 158s as bringing new standards of comfort, as built, interiors were described as fully carpeted, with panoramic windows and a variety of seats arranged both airline-style and in bays of four around tables. Despite an increased top speed of 90 miles per hour, the units also promised a smoother, quieter ride than its predecessors. The Class 158s were expected to achieve 13,500 miles of operation between major services and a range of up to 1,600 miles from each refuelling. Despite the attention given to facilities, the phrase garden shed engineering has been used to describe the build. The class has suffered from unreliable air-conditioning systems since the outlawing of the CFC gases with which they were originally designed to work. Following privatisation, many operators undertook to re-engineer or entirely replace such equipment, as a result, the systems in use and their effectiveness now vary across the fleet. The lightweight aluminium body of the Class 158s leads to a route availability score. However, the units were refused permission by Network Rail to operate on the Conwy Valley, ScotRail was the first part of British Rail to introduce the Class 158s to public service in September 1990, long after the planned date. These were employed on Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Waverley services, as well as services to Aberdeen, the Class 158s then went on to be deployed elsewhere in Britain, primarily in the Midlands, Northern England, Wales and the South West. With the majority of the fleet coming under the control of the Regional Railways division, examples included long-distance Trans-Pennine services in the north of England, as well as a range of upgraded regional services under the Alphaline brand in the Midlands, Wales and the South West

3.
Kyle of Lochalsh line
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The Kyle of Lochalsh Line is a primarily single track railway line in the Scottish Highlands, running from Dingwall to Kyle of Lochalsh. Many of the passengers on the trains are tourists but one can expect to meet locals visiting Inverness for shopping. All services are provided by Abellio ScotRail and run to Inverness, most services run to or from Inverness, one daily train runs beyond Inverness to Elgin having in the past come from Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen. No section of the line is electrified and all trains on the line are diesel-powered, in the 1960s the line was listed to be closed under the Reshaping of British Railways report, however it was reprieved and services continued. The section of line along Loch Carron is particularly troublesome and prone to landslides, from 1999 onwards, the then ScotRail operator, National Express, began the removal of the Class 156 Sprinter trains. Their replacement was to be the faster, higher standard Class 158s and these trains offered a better all round travelling experience, with air conditioning, improved speed, lighting, seating, storage and general comfort. There is now a dedicated fleet of Class 158 units based at Inverness serving the Kyle of Lochalsh line, the Far North Line to Wick and Thurso, the next franchise owner First ScotRail had continued the current situation, with improvement to the depot facilities at Inverness. During the winter there are three, generally 2 car services, per day in each direction, with no Sunday services. During summer months, Monday to Saturday services increase to four in both directions, mostly running as 4 cars, with two services in each direction on a Sunday. As of December 2008 service enhancements have meant the introduction of four daily trains all year round, the stations on the line that have passing loops are Muir of Ord, Dingwall, Garve, Achnasheen and Strathcarron. Only Dingwall and Kyle stations are staffed, however all stations along the route have lighting, most have passenger information telephone points fitted so that remote customer service staff can be contacted. Along the route there are 29 bridges and 31 cuttings, the film shows the LMS steam locomotives that operated the line at this time. In the episode of Great Railway Journeys of the World Confessions of a Trainspotter, Michael Palin travels from London to the Kyle of Lochalsh, nicholas Whittaker travelled the line both ways during the summer of 1973, an experience he wrote about in his 1995 book Platform Souls. As with the railway lines of the western Highlands, John Thomas wrote a comprehensive and highly readable history. RailScot - Dingwall and Skye Railway RailScot - Kyle of Lochalsh Extension Railway RailScot - Strathpeffer Branch Route on OpenStreetMap Timetable World - Historical timetables for this line

4.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses

5.
Long Island Rail Road
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With an average weekday ridership of 337,800 passengers in 2014, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the worlds few commuter systems that runs 24 hours a day,7 days a week and it is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who refer to it as MTA Long Island Rail Road. The LIRR logo combines the circular MTA logo with the text Long Island Rail Road, the LIRR is one of two commuter rail systems owned by the MTA, the other being the Metro-North Railroad. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the second-oldest US railroad still operating under its original name and charter. There are 124 stations, and more than 700 miles of track and this service was superseded in 1849 by the land route through Connecticut that became part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The LIRR refocused its attentions towards serving Long Island, in competition with railroads on the island. In the 1870s, railroad president Conrad Poppenhusen and his successor Austin Corbin acquired all the railroads, the LIRR was unprofitable for much of its history. In 1900, the Pennsylvania Railroad bought a controlling interest as part of its plan for access to Manhattan which began on September 8,1910. The wealthy PRR subsidized the LIRR during the first half of the new century, after the Second World War, the railroad industrys downturn and dwindling profits caused the PRR to stop subsidizing the LIRR, and the LIRR went into receivership in 1949. The State of New York, realizing how important the railroad was to Long Islands future, in 1966, New York State bought the railroads controlling stock from the PRR and put it under the newly formed Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority. With MTA subsidies the LIRR modernized further, continuing to be the busiest commuter railroad in the United States, the LIRR is one of the few railroads that has survived as an intact company from its original charter to the present. The LIRR operates out of three terminals, in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Jamaica Station in central Queens is the hub of all railroad activities, expansion of the system into Grand Central Terminal is expected over the next few years. Major stations include, Pennsylvania Station, in Midtown Manhattan, is the busiest of the western terminals and it is reached via the Amtrak-owned East River Tunnels from the Main Line in Long Island City. The New York City Subways 34th Street–Penn Station and 34th Street–Penn Station stations are next to the terminal and it also connects LIRR with Amtrak and NJ Transit trains. Atlantic Terminal, formerly Flatbush Avenue, in Downtown Brooklyn serves most other trains and it is next to the New York City Subways Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station complex, providing easy access to Lower Manhattan. A handful of trains run to Hunterspoint Avenue or onward to the Long Island City station on the East River in Long Island City. From Hunterspoint Avenue, the Hunters Point Avenue subway station can be reached for Midtown Manhattan access, the same subway trains can also be reached from Long Island City station at the Vernon Boulevard–Jackson Avenue subway station

6.
Central Branch (Long Island Rail Road)
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It was built in 1873 as part of the Babylon Extension of the Central Railroad of Long Island, which was owned by Alexander Turney Stewart. This allowed non-electric Montauk Branch trains that begin or end east of Babylon to use the Main Line from Bethpage to Jamaica, the branch is colored as part of the Ronkonkoma Branch on some LIRR maps, but these trains are shown on Babylon and Montauk Branch timetables. There were two stations along this stretch, Farmingdale and Breslau, the South Farmingdale station had a sheltered platform and was the last station in service along this branch, discontinued about 1974. It was along this stretch of the Central Branch that Mile-a-Minute Murphy set a record in 1899, there are several freight customers located along the branch, which is served several times weekly by the New York & Atlantic Railway. The current day Central Branch right of way back to 1873 when Alexander Stewart chartered. A line of tracks was built by the CRRLI from Flushing to Bethpage Junction, at Garden City a spur line was also built to service residents of Hempstead. At the time, Stewart was building Garden City, one of the first planned communities in the United States. The railroad had a purpose in that it was to service Stewarts Bethpage Brickworks. Additionally the railroad would also supply the new residents of Garden City with both commuter service to Long Island City, where they could connect to ferries into Manhattan. Service along the Babylon extension also was popular for excursions to the Babylon shoreline, in 1876 the CRRLI was acquired by the LIRR and Stewarts line became known as the LIRRs Central Branch. The portion from Flushing to the Creedmoor Rifle Range was abandoned in 1879, the portion from Creedmoor to Floral Park survived as freight service and was known as the Creedmoor Branch until service ended in the late 1960s and the tracks demapped in the early 1970s. The LIRR used the Centrals right of way between Floral Park and Garden City along with the Centrals spur line to Hempstead to make up what is today the current day Hempstead Branch. In 1925 the Stewarts Central branch was severed from its connection to the Babylon extension with the reconfiguration of Bethpage Junction, the portion of the line from Garden City to just west of the disconnection at Bethpage Junction came to be referred to as the Central Extension. In 1939 the Central Extension between Garden City and the end of line in Bethpage was abandoned for passenger service. During World War II the eastern portion of the rail was removed, after World War II a portion of the track was rebuilt to move materials for the construction of Levittown, however, it never again reached Bethpage Junction, and those tracks too were soon removed. Central Branch of the Long Island Rail Road The Stewart Line 21903 map showing Central Branch, then named Hempstead Branch

7.
Zhejiang
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Zhejiang, formerly romanized as Chekiang, is an eastern coastal province of China. The provinces name derives from the Zhe River, the name of the Qiantang River which flows past Hangzhou. Kuahuqiao culture was a neolithic culture that flourished in Hangzhou area in 6. Zhejiang was the site of the Neolithic cultures of the Hemudu, the area of modern Zhejiang was outside the major sphere of influence of the Shang civilization during the second millennium BC. Instead, this area was populated by peoples known as Dongyue. The kingdom of Yue began to appear in the chronicles and records written during the Spring, according to the chronicles, the kingdom of Yue was in northern Zhejiang. Shiji claims that its leaders were descended from the Shang founder Yu the Great, the Song of the Yue Boatman was transliterated into Chinese and recorded by authors in north China or inland China of Hebei and Henan around 528 BC. The song shows that the Yue people spoke a language that was mutually unintelligible with the dialects spoken in north, the Sword of Goujian bears bird-worm seal script. Yuenü was a swordswoman from the state of Yue, to check the growth of the kingdom of Wu, Chu pursued a policy of strengthening Yue. Under King Goujian, Yue recovered from its early reverses and fully annexed the lands of its rival in 473 BC, the Yue kings then moved their capital center from their original home around Mount Kuaiji in present-day Shaoxing to the former Wu capital at present-day Suzhou. With no southern power to turn against Yue, Chu opposed it directly and, in 333 BC, yues former lands were annexed by the Qin Empire in 222 BC and organized into a commandery named for Kuaiji in Zhejiang but initially headquartered in Wu in Jiangsu. Kuaiji Commandery was the power base for Xiang Liang and Xiang Yus rebellion against the Qin Empire which initially succeeded in restoring the kingdom of Chu. At the beginning of the Three Kingdoms era, Zhejiang was home to the warlords Yan Baihu and Wang Lang prior to their defeat by Sun Ce and Sun Quan, who eventually established the Kingdom of Wu. Despite the removal of their court from Kuaiji to Jianye, they continued development of the region, industrial kilns were established and trade reached as far as Manchuria and Funan. Zhejiang was part of the Wu during the Three Kingdoms, Wu, commonly known as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, had been the economically most developed state among the Three Kingdoms. The historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms records that Zhejiang had the best-equipped, the story depicts how the states of Wei and Shu, lack of material resources, avoided direct confrontation with the Wu. In armed military conflicts with Wu, the two states relied intensively on tactics of camouflage and deception to steal Wus military resources including arrows and bows, the other two centers in the south were Jiankang and Chengdu. In 589, Qiantang was raised in status and renamed Hangzhou, some may have lost social privilege, and took refugee in areas south to Yangtze River

8.
Rail transport
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Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, also known as tracks. It is also referred to as train transport. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles run on a flat surface. Tracks usually consist of rails, installed on ties and ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels. Other variations are possible, such as slab track, where the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than road vehicles, so passenger. The operation is carried out by a company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer facilities. Power is provided by locomotives which either draw electric power from a railway system or produce their own power. Most tracks are accompanied by a signalling system, Railways are a safe land transport system when compared to other forms of transport. The oldest, man-hauled railways date back to the 6th century BC, with Periander, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Rail transport blossomed after the British development of the steam locomotive as a viable source of power in the 19th centuries. With steam engines, one could construct mainline railways, which were a key component of the Industrial Revolution, also, railways reduced the costs of shipping, and allowed for fewer lost goods, compared with water transport, which faced occasional sinking of ships. The change from canals to railways allowed for markets in which prices varied very little from city to city. In the 1880s, electrified trains were introduced, and also the first tramways, starting during the 1940s, the non-electrified railways in most countries had their steam locomotives replaced by diesel-electric locomotives, with the process being almost complete by 2000. During the 1960s, electrified high-speed railway systems were introduced in Japan, other forms of guided ground transport outside the traditional railway definitions, such as monorail or maglev, have been tried but have seen limited use. The history of the growth, decline and restoration to use of transport can be divided up into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of motive power used. The earliest evidence of a railway was a 6-kilometre Diolkos wagonway, trucks pushed by slaves ran in grooves in limestone, which provided the track element. The Diolkos operated for over 600 years, Railways began reappearing in Europe after the Dark Ages. The earliest known record of a railway in Europe from this period is a window in the Minster of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany

9.
Train
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A train is a form of rail transport consisting of a series of vehicles that usually runs along a rail track to transport cargo or passengers. Motive power is provided by a locomotive or individual motors in self-propelled multiple units. Although historically steam propulsion dominated, the most common forms are diesel and electric locomotives. Other energy sources include horses, engine or water-driven rope or wire winch, gravity, pneumatics, batteries, the word train comes from the Old French trahiner, from the Latin trahere pull, draw. There are various types of trains that are designed for particular purposes, a train may consist of a combination of one or more locomotives and attached railroad cars, or a self-propelled multiple unit. The first trains were rope-hauled, gravity powered or pulled by horses, from the early 19th century almost all were powered by steam locomotives. A passenger train is one which includes passenger-carrying vehicles which can often be very long, one notable and growing long-distance train category is high-speed rail. In order to much faster operation over 500 km/h, innovative Maglev technology has been researched for years. In most countries, such as the United Kingdom, the distinction between a tramway and a railway is precise and defined in law, a freight train uses freight cars to transport goods or materials. Freight and passengers may be carried in the train in a mixed consist. Rail cars and machinery used for maintenance and repair of tracks, etc. are termed maintenance of way equipment, similarly, dedicated trains may be used to provide support services to stations along a train line, such as garbage or revenue collection. There are various types of trains that are designed for particular purposes, a train can consist of a combination of one or more locomotives and attached railroad cars, or a self-propelled multiple unit. Trains can also be hauled by horses, pulled by a cable, special kinds of trains running on corresponding special railways are atmospheric railways, monorails, high-speed railways, maglev, rubber-tired underground, funicular and cog railways. A passenger train may consist of one or several locomotives and coaches, alternatively, a train may consist entirely of passenger carrying coaches, some or all of which are powered as a multiple unit. In many parts of the world, particularly the Far East and Europe, freight trains are composed of wagons or trucks rather than carriages, though some parcel and mail trains are outwardly more like passenger trains. Trains can also be mixed, comprising both passenger accommodation and freight vehicles, special trains are also used for track maintenance, in some places, this is called maintenance of way. A train with a locomotive attached at each end is described as top and tailed, where a second locomotive is attached temporarily to assist a train up steep banks or grades it is referred to as banking in the UK, or helper service in North America. Recently, many loaded trains in the United States have been made up one or more locomotives in the middle or at the rear of the train

10.
Branch line
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A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line, david Blyth Hanna, the first president of the Canadian National Railway, said that although most branch lines cannot pay for themselves, they are essential to make main lines pay. Many British branch lines were closed as a result of the Beeching Axe in the 1960s, the smallest branch line that is still in operation in the UK is the Stourbridge Town Branch Line from Stourbridge Junction going to Stourbridge Town. Operating on a track, the journey is 0.8 miles long. Examples of spur lines in Singapore include, Changi Extension Line, examples of spur lines in Hong Kong include, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line, South Tseung Kwan O Spur Line, Racecourse Spur Line. In North America, little-used branch lines are sold by large railroads to become new common carrier short-line railroads of their own. They were typically built to standards, utilizing lighter rail. In the United States, abandonment of branch lines was a byproduct of deregulation of the rail industry through the Staggers Act. The Princeton Branch is a rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit in the U. S. state of New Jersey. The line is a branch of the Northeast Corridor Line. Also known as the Dinky Line, at 2.9 mi it is the shortest scheduled commuter rail line in the United States. The run takes 4 minutes,47 seconds, New Zealand once had a very extensive network of branch lines, especially in the South Island regions of Canterbury, Otago, and Southland. Many were built in the late 19th century to open up inland regions for farming, today, many of the branch lines have been closed, including almost all of the general-purpose country lines. Those that remain serve ports or industries far from main lines such as mines, logging operations, large dairying factories. In Auckland and Wellington, two lines in each city exist solely for commuter passenger trains. For more, see the list of New Zealand railway lines

11.
Double-track railway
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A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lines were built as double-track because of the difficulty of co-ordinating operations before the invention of the telegraph, the lines also tended to be busy enough to be beyond the capacity of a single track. In the early days the Board of Trade did not consider any single-track railway line to be complete and this improved with the development of the telegraph and the train order system. In any given country, rail traffic generally runs to one side of a double-track line, thus in Belgium, China, France, Sweden, Switzerland and Italy for example, the railways use left-hand running, while the roads use right-hand running. In countries such as Indonesia, it is the reverse, on the French-German border, for example, flyovers were provided so that train moving on the left in France end up on the right in Germany and vice versa. Handedness of traffic can affect locomotive design, for the driver, visibility is good from both sides of the driving cab so the choice on which side to site the driver less important. For example, the French SNCF Class BB7200 is designed for using the left-hand track, generally, the left/right principle in a country is followed mostly on double track. On single track, when trains meet, the train that shall not stop uses the straight path in the turnout. Double-track railways, especially older ones, may use each track exclusively in one direction and this arrangement simplifies the signalling systems, especially where the signalling is mechanical. Where the signals and points or rail switches are power-operated, it can be worthwhile to signal each line in both directions, so that the line becomes a pair of single lines. This allows trains to use one track where the track is out of service due to track maintenance work, or a train failure. Most crossing loops are not regarded as even though they consist of multiple tracks. If the crossing loop is long enough to several trains. A more modern British term for such a layout is an extended loop, the distance between the track centres makes a difference in cost and performance of a double-track line. The track centres can be as narrow and as cheap as possible, signals for bi-directional working cannot be mounted between the tracks so must be mounted on the wrong side of the line or on expensive signal bridges. Track centres are usually wider on high speed lines, as pressure waves knock each other as high-speed trains pass, narrow track centres might be 4 metres or less. Narrow track centres may have to be widened on sharp curves to allow for rail vehicles following the arc of the curve. Widening a track centre to 5 metres or so suits high-speed trains passing each other, increasing width of track centres of 6 metres or more makes it much easier to mount signals and overhead wiring structures

12.
Rail freight transport
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Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. Trains may haul bulk material, intermodal containers, general freight or specialized freight in purpose-designed cars, Rail freight practices and economics vary by country and region. When considered in terms of ton-miles or tonne-kilometers hauled per unit of energy consumed, maximum economies are typically realized with bulk commodities, especially when hauled over long distances. However, shipment by rail is not as flexible as by highway, moving goods by rail often involves transshipment costs, particularly when the shipper or receiver lack direct rail access. These costs may exceed that of operating the train itself, a factor that practices such as containerization aim to minimize. Traditionally, large shippers build factories and warehouses near rail lines and have a section of track on their property called a siding where goods are loaded onto or unloaded from rail cars, other shippers have their goods hauled by wagon or truck to or from a goods station. When long enough, or based on a schedule, each long distance train is dispatched to another classification yard. At the next classification yard, cars are resorted and those that are destined for stations served by that yard are assigned to local trains for delivery. Others are reassembled into trains heading to classification yards closer to their final destination, a single car might be reclassified or switched in several yards before reaching its final destination, a process that made rail freight slow and increased costs. Many freight rail operators are trying to reduce costs by reducing or eliminating switching in classification yards through techniques such as unit trains. In many countries, railroads have been built to haul one commodity, such as coal or ore, Rail freight uses many types of goods wagon or freight car. Most coal and aggregates are moved in wagons or gondolas or open wagons that can be filled and discharged rapidly. A major disadvantage of rail freight is its lack of flexibility, in part for this reason, rail has lost much of the freight business to road transport. Many governments are now trying to encourage more freight trains, because of the environmental benefits that it would bring. Compared tо road transport whісh employs thе uѕе оf trucks, rail transportation ensures thаt goods thаt соuld оthеrwіѕе bе transported оn а number оf trucks аrе transported іn а single shipment, thіѕ saves а lot аѕ fаr аѕ cost connected tо thе transportation аrе concerned. In Europe many manufacturing towns developed before the railway, many factories did not have direct rail access. This meant that freight had to be shipped through a station, sent by train. When lorries replaced horses it was economic and faster to make one movement by road

13.
Passing loop
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A passing loop or passing siding is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at a station, where trains or trams travelling in opposite directions can pass each other. Trains/trams going in the direction can also overtake, providing that the signalling arrangement allows it. A passing loop is double ended and connected to the track at both ends, though a dead end siding known as a refuge siding, which is much less convenient. A similar arrangement is used on the track of cable railways and funiculars. Ideally, the loop should be longer than all trains needing to cross at that point, if one train is too long for the loop it must wait for the opposing train to enter the loop before proceeding, taking a few minutes. Ideally, the train should arrive first and leave second. If both trains are too long for the loop, time-consuming see-sawing operations are required for the trains to cross, the main line has straight track, while the loop line has low speed turnouts at either end. If the station has one platform, then it is usually located on the main line. If passenger trains are few in number, and the likelihood of two passenger trains crossing each other low, the platform on the loop line may be omitted. The through road has straight track, while the road has low speed turnouts at either end. A possible advantage of this layout is that trains scheduled to pass straight through the station can do so uninterrupted and this layout is mostly used at local stations where many passenger trains do not stop. Since there is one passenger platform, it is not convenient to cross two passenger trains if both stop. An example is Scone railway station, but the end was later rearranged to resemble a main. A disadvantage of the platform and through arrangement is the speed limits through the turnouts at each end, in the example layout shown, trains take the left-hand track in their direction of running. Low-speed turnouts restrict the speed in one direction, two platform faces are needed, and they can be provided either at a single island platform or two side platforms. Overtaking is not normally possible at this kind of up and down loop as some of the signals are absent. Crossing loops using up and down working are very common in British practice and it is possible to cross trains at stations equipped with only a siding. At Bombo, Australia, the loop had no platform

14.
Abbey Line
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The Abbey line, also called the St Albans Abbey branch line, is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The 6. 5-mile route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the Oyster Card and London fare zones. Its northern terminus in St Albans Abbey is located in the south of the city, the Abbey line is a semi-rural line and, due to its single-track operation, service frequencies are limited. The service is referred to locally as the Abbey Flyer. The line was opened by the London and North Western Railway on 5 May 1858 and was the first railway to reach St Albans, originally there were two intermediate stations, Bricket Wood Park Street In 1910 a station at Callowland opened, now Watford North. In 1924 the terminus at St Albans became St Albans Abbey to distinguish it from the Midland Railway main line station at St Albans City, the LNWR station was also served by a branch of the Great Northern Railway from Hatfield. A sixth station was added at Garston in 1966 and a seventh at How Wood in 1988, the line was built in its current form, a branch from Watford to St. Albans. However, the line was at times connected to two other lines, One, the Hatfield and St Albans Railway, opened in 1865 from St. Albans Abbey station to the East Coast main line at Hatfield. Mostly a local route, the construction of the Midland main line ensured that it never became popular with the market of passengers to London. It closed to passengers in 1951, part of a cutback of minor routes after the war, the whole route closed to goods in 1964, though a short stub at the Hatfield end lasted until 1968. During construction of the Midland main line in the 1860s, a branch was laid from near How Wood to the Midland route to carry building materials. Never used by services, Ordnance Survey maps indicate it closed between 1883 and 1898 although the embankment and some bridge abutments remain very visible. As part of a plan in the 1980s, British Rail examined reopening this, with the aim of diverting the branch to the City station. Passenger services are operated by London Midland, stations on the branch are unstaffed and tickets must be bought on the train, except at St Albans Abbey and Watford North which have a ticket machine, and Watford Junction which is staffed. If starting your journey at Watford Junction, in compliance with National Rail conditions of carriage, the Abbey line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 18, SRS18.10 and is classified as a Rural line. The line is single track and is electrified at 25 kV AC using overhead line equipment and it has a loading gauge of W6 and a line speed of between 40 and 75 mph. The service is operated using EMUs, a Class 319 EMU is in regular use, with services formerly operated by Class 321 and Class 313 units before that. Rarely a Class 150 DMU has been substituted, London Midland recently acquired the Class 319 trains to replace the Class 321 units acquired by Abellio ScotRail to operate on Glasgows suburban rail network

15.
Head-on collision
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With railways, a head-on collision occurs most often on a single line railway. This usually means that at least one of the trains has passed a signal at danger, Head-on collisions may also occur at junctions, for similar reasons. In the early days of railroading in the United States, such collisions were quite common, as time progressed and signalling became more standardized, such accidents became less frequent. Even so, the term still sees some usage in the industry, the origins of the term are not well known, but it is attributed to accidents happening in rural America where farming and cornfields were common. The first known usage of the term was in the mid-19th century, the distance required for a train to stop is usually greater than the distance that can be seen before the next blind curve, which is why signals and safeworking systems are so important. Note, if the collision occurs at a station or junction, or trains are traveling in the same direction, january 26,1921 — Abermule train collision, Montgomeryshire — failure to observe proper procedures,17 killed. May 15,1960 — Rail accident of Leipzig, East Germany — Mistake of workers at a box,54 killed,240 injured November 16,1960 — Stéblová train disaster. 1969 — Violet Town railway disaster, Australia — dead driver drives through crossing loop, may 27,1971 — Radevormwald, West Germany — Dahlerau train disaster — A freight train and a passenger train crashed into each other,46 killed. May 4,1976 - Schiedam train disaster, The Netherlands, july 25,1980 — Winsum train disaster, The Netherlands, Two trains collide on a single track between Groningen and Roodeschool resulting in 9 deaths. February 8,1986 — Hinton train collision, Alberta — freight train passed red light due to sleeping crew,23 killed, october 19,1987 — Bintaro train crash — two passenger train collided due to signal misunderstanding,156 killed and more than 300 injured. 1989/1991 — Glasgow Bellgrove rail crash and Newton rail accident, Scotland — both SPAD’s with track layout at single lead junctions a major contributory factor 1994 — Cowden rail crash, august 2,1999 — Gauhati rail disaster — Two express trains collide head-on in. January 4,2000 — Åsta accident, Åsta in Åmot, the fire after the collision lasts nearly six hours. July 12,2016 - Andria-Corato train collision - head-on collision in Apulia, with shipping, there are two main factors influencing the chance of a head-on collision. Firstly, even with radar and radio, it is difficult to tell what course the opposing ships are following, secondly, big ships have so much momentum that it is very hard to change course at the last moment. Head-on collisions are a fatal type of road traffic collision. U. S. statistics show that in 2005, head-on crashes were only 2. 0% of all crashes, a common misconception is that this over-representation is because the relative velocity of vehicles traveling in opposite directions is high. Except for the case of a car colliding with a heavier one. The television show MythBusters performed a demonstration of this effect in a 2010 show, Head-on collisions, sideswipes, and run-off-road crashes all belong to a category of crashes called lane-departure or road-departure crashes

16.
Railway signalling
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Railway signalling is a system used to direct railway traffic and keep trains clear of each other at all times. Trains move on fixed rails, making them susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the weight and inertia of a train. Most forms of control involve movement authority being passed from those responsible for each section of a rail network to the train crew. The set of rules and the equipment used to accomplish this determine what is known as the method of working. Not all these methods require the use of signals. The earliest rail cars were first hauled by horses or mules, a mounted flagman on a horse preceded some early trains. Hand and arm signals were used to direct the “train drivers”, foggy and poor-visibility conditions gave rise to flags and lanterns. Wayside signalling dates back as far as 1832, and used elevated flags or balls that could be seen from afar, the simplest form of operation, at least in terms of equipment, is to run the system according to a timetable. Every train crew understands and adheres to a fixed schedule, trains may only run on each track section at a scheduled time, during which they have possession and no other train may use the same section. When trains run in opposite directions on a railroad, meeting points are scheduled. Neither train is permitted to move before the other has arrived, in the US the display of two green flags is an indication that another train is following the first and the waiting train must wait for the next train to pass. In addition, the carrying the flags gives eight blasts on the whistle as it approaches. The waiting train must return eight blasts before the flag carrying train may proceed, the timetable system has several disadvantages. First, there is no confirmation that the track ahead is clear. A second problem is the systems inflexibility, trains cannot be added, delayed, or rescheduled without advance notice. A third problem is a corollary of the second, the system is inefficient, to provide flexibility, the timetable must give trains a broad allocation of time to allow for delays, so the line is not in the possession of each train for longer than is otherwise necessary. Nonetheless, this system permits operation on a vast scale, with no requirements for any kind of communication that travels faster than a train, timetable operation was the normal mode of operation in North America in the early days of the railroad

17.
Great Britain
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Great Britain, also known as Britain, is a large island in the north Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km2, Great Britain is the largest European island, in 2011 the island had a population of about 61 million people, making it the worlds third-most populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan. The island of Ireland is situated to the west of it, the island is dominated by a maritime climate with quite narrow temperature differences between seasons. Politically, the island is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island. The term Great Britain often extends to surrounding islands that form part of England, Scotland, and Wales. A single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the union of the Kingdom of England, the archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years, the term British Isles derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a name for the British Isles. However, with the Roman conquest of Britain the Latin term Britannia was used for the island of Great Britain, the oldest mention of terms related to Great Britain was by Aristotle, or possibly by Pseudo-Aristotle, in his text On the Universe, Vol. III. To quote his works, There are two large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and Ierne. The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten, Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the writings of the Pytheas around 320 BC. Marcian of Heraclea, in his Periplus maris exteri, described the group as αἱ Πρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι. The peoples of these islands of Prettanike were called the Πρεττανοί, Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain, Britain, which has the same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne used to refer to the early Brythonic-speaking inhabitants of Ireland. The latter were later called Picts or Caledonians by the Romans, the Greco-Egyptian scientist Ptolemy referred to the larger island as great Britain and to Ireland as little Britain in his work Almagest. The name Albion appears to have out of use sometime after the Roman conquest of Britain. After the Anglo-Saxon period, Britain was used as a term only. It was used again in 1604, when King James VI and I styled himself King of Great Brittaine, France, Great Britain refers geographically to the island of Great Britain, politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination

18.
Token (railway signalling)
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In railway signalling, a token is a physical object which a locomotive driver is required to have or see before entering onto a particular section of single track. The token is clearly endorsed with the names of the section it belongs to, a token system is used for single lines because of the very much greater risk of serious collision in the event of irregular working by signalmen or traincrews, than on double lines. Such a system is known as one engine in steam, such schemes were used, and indeed still are used on some branches of rail networks, and on heritage railways. The main problem with such a scheme is that it is best suited to an isolated branch of single track line. That object is known as a token and is marked to indicate to which single track section it belongs. Tokens have existed in a variety of forms, staff tablet ball key The token system was developed in Britain in the 19th century. If a branch line is an end with a simple shuttle train service. The driver of any entering the branch line must be in possession of the token. For convenience in passing it from hand to hand, the token was often in the form of a staff, typically 800 mm long and 40 mm diameter, and is referred to as a train staff. Such a staff is usually literally a wooden staff with a brass plate stating the two signal boxes between which it is valid, in UK terminology, this method of working on simple branch lines was originally referred to as One Engine in Steam, and later One Train Working. That really does cause a delay because if the staff is not there. Using only a single token does not provide convenient operation when consecutive trains are to be worked in the same direction and he was given a written authority to enter the single line section, referred to as the ticket. He could then proceed, and a train could follow. In the earliest days the train could proceed after a designated time interval. However, following the Armagh rail disaster of 1889, block working became mandatory, seeing the train staff provided assurance that there could be no head-on collision. To ensure that the ticket is not issued incorrectly, a book of numbered tickets is kept in a locked box, the key to which is permanently fastened to the token, or is the token. In addition, the lock prevents the token being removed until the box is closed. Once a ticket is issued, its number is recorded in a Train Register book, and this system is known as staff and ticket

19.
Scottish Highlands
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The Highlands are a historic region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, the term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands, the Scottish Gaelic name of A Ghàidhealtachd literally means the place of the Gaels and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands. The area is sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region. At 9.1 per km2 in 2012, the density in the Highlands and Islands is less than one seventh of Scotlands as a whole, comparable with that of Bolivia, Chad. The Highland Council is the body for much of the Highlands. However, the Highlands also includes parts of the areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, North Ayrshire, Perth & Kinross, Stirling. The Scottish highlands is the area in the British Isles to have the Taiga biome as it features concentrated populations of Scots pine forest. Between the 15th century and the 20th century, the area differed from most of the Lowlands in terms of language. In Scottish Gaelic, the region is known as the Gàidhealtachd, because it was traditionally the Gaelic-speaking part of Scotland, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably but have different meanings in their respective languages. Scottish English is the predominant language of the area today, though Highland English has been influenced by Gaelic speech to a significant extent, historically, the Highland line distinguished the two Scottish cultures. Most of this legislation was repealed by the end of the 18th century as the Jacobite threat subsided, there was soon a rehabilitation of Highland culture. Tartan was adopted for Highland regiments in the British Army, which poor Highlanders joined in large numbers in the era of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Tartan had largely abandoned by the ordinary people of the region, but in the 1820s, tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland. The international craze for tartan, and for idealising a romanticised Highlands, was set off by the Ossian cycle, individual clan tartans were largely designated in this period and they became a major symbol of Scottish identity. The period of the Napoleonic wars brought prosperity, optimism, the economy grew thanks to wages paid in industries such as kelping, fisheries, and weaving, as well as large-scale infrastructure spending such as the Caledonian Canal project. On the East Coast, farmlands were improved, and high prices for cattle brought money to the area, Service in the Army was also attractive to young men from the Highlands, who sent pay home and retired there with their army pensions. This prosperity ended after 1815, and long-term negative factors began to undermine the position of the poor tenant farmers, who typically rented a few acres

20.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands

21.
Electrical telegraph
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An electrical telegraph is a telegraph that uses electrical signals, usually conveyed via dedicated telecommunication lines or radio. From early studies of electricity, electrical phenomena were known to travel with great speed, in 1753 an anonymous writer in the Scots Magazine suggested an electrostatic telegraph. In 1774 Georges-Louis Le Sage realised an early electric telegraph, the telegraph had a separate wire for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet and its range was only between two rooms of his home. In 1800 Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile, allowing for a current of electricity for experimentation. Both their designs employed multiple wires to represent almost all Latin letters, thus, messages could be conveyed electrically up to a few kilometers, with each of the telegraph receivers wires immersed in a separate glass tube of acid. The telegraph receivers operator would watch the bubbles and could record the transmitted message. This is in contrast to later telegraphs that used a single wire, hans Christian Ørsted discovered in 1820 that an electric current produces a magnetic field which will deflect a compass needle. In the same year Johann Schweigger invented the galvanometer, with a coil of wire around a compass, in 1824, Peter Barlow said that such a system only worked to a distance of about 200 feet, and so was impractical. In 1825 William Sturgeon invented the electromagnet, with a winding of uninsulated wire on a piece of varnished iron. During his tenure at The Albany Academy from 1826 to 1832, in 1835 Joseph Henry and Edward Davy invented the critical electrical relay. Davys relay used a needle which dipped into a mercury contact when an electric current passed through the surrounding coil. This allowed a weak current to switch a larger current to operate a powerful local electromagnet over very long distances, Davy demonstrated his telegraph system in Regents Park in 1837 and was granted a patent on 4 July 1838. He also developed an electric relay, the first working telegraph was built by the English inventor Francis Ronalds in 1816 and used static electricity. At the family home on Hammersmith Mall, he set up a subterranean system in a 175 yard long trench as well as an eight mile long overhead telegraph. The lines were connected at both ends to revolving dials marked with the letters of the alphabet and electrical impulses sent along the wire were used to transmit messages, offering his invention to the Admiralty in July 1816, it was rejected as “wholly unnecessary”. Elements of Ronalds’ design were utilised in the subsequent commercialisation of the telegraph over 20 years later, the telegraph invented by Baron Schilling von Canstatt in 1832 had a transmitting device which consisted of a keyboard with 16 black-and-white keys. These served for switching the electric current, the receiving instrument consisted of six galvanometers with magnetic needles, suspended from silk threads. Both stations of Shillings telegraph were connected by eight wires, six were connected with the galvanometers, one served for the return current, when at the starting station the operator pressed a key, the corresponding pointer was deflected at the receiving station

22.
Single-line working
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On a railway, single-line working refers to the practice where when one line out of two is blocked, trains are able to use the other in either direction. This is usually when a line is out of use for maintenance or because of damage or some obstruction It not be confused with Working a single line by pilotman where there is one line. Lines that are equipped with bi-directional signalling can operate normally since the equipment is already in place to permit trains to run in either direction over the single line. However, when a section of line which is not normally bi-directional has to be used in both directions, special procedures are needed to ensure safe operation, in single-line working, signals are usually provided for the right-direction of travel but not in the wrong-direction. A pilotman will be appointed to local control of the single line. Liaising with the signaller, he will authorise all movements and he must ride with the train if the movement is towards an obstruction or if that is the last train to move in that direction. A complication arises with this if the next train is positioned at the other end of the section from the Pilotman. In this instance the pilotman will to have to walk to the other end and this can lead to long delays. Because signals are provided for travel in direction, the Pilotman has only to explain to the driver what is taking place. He must state which line is being used for line working. If there is an Automatic half-barrier crossing under local control on the route, once he is in possession of the Single line working ticket and has received authority to move from the Pilotman, the driver can obey the signals and may proceed at linespeed if conditions allow. When this has been done, the driver may proceed through the line section at no more than 50 mph. On returning to working, the driver must cancel the ticket by writing CANCELLED across it. If the Pilotman has accompanied him over the line he must hand it to him. Red for Danger, a history of accidents and railway safety, London

23.
Rail trail
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A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of abandoned railways—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various developments, the term sometimes also covers trails running alongside working railways, these are called rails with trails. Some shared trails are segregated, with the segregation achieved with or without separation, many rail trails are long-distance trails. A rail trail may still include rails, such as light rail or streetcar, by virtue of their characteristic shape, some shorter rail trails are known as greenways and linear parks. The development of trails in southeastern Australia can be traced to the gold rushes of the second half of the 19th century. Dozens of rail lines sprang up, aided by the overly enthusiastic Octopus Act, decades later, these easements found a new use as tourist drawcards, once converted to rail trails. Dozens exist in form, like the 37 kilometres Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail. Progress is frequently hampered by trestle bridges in unsafe condition, easements that have sold off to farmers. Funding is typically contributed in equal parts from federal, state. The latest addition to the Rail Trail scene in victoria is The Great Victorian Rail Trail and is the longest rail trail in Victoria covering 134 km and it has become popular with tourists as it meanders through steep valleys and open farm country. The only carrier to exist in Bermuda folded in 1948 and was converted to a trail in 1984. Some of the right of way has been converted for automobile traffic. The rail bed spans the length of the island, and connected Hamilton to St. Georges and several villages, though several bridges are derelict, the Kettle Valley Rail Trail in British Columbia uses a rail corridor that was originally built for the now-abandoned Kettle Valley Railway. The trail was developed during the 1990s after the Canadian Pacific Railway abandoned train service, the longest rail trail in Canada is the Newfoundland TRailway that covers a distance of 883 km. The rail corridor stretches from Channel-Port aux Basques in the west to St. Johns in the east with branches to Stephenville, Lewisporte, Bonavista, Placentia and Carbonear. Following the abandonment of the Prince Edward Island Railway in 1989, in Quebec, Le Ptit Train du Nord runs 200km from St. Jerome to Mont Laurier. In Toronto, there are two trails, the Beltline Trail and the West Toronto Railpath. It can be used for cross country skiing, walking, and snowmobiling in the months, and walking, cycling

24.
Southern Railway of Vancouver Island
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The Southern Railway of Vancouver Island is 234 kilometres in length, and is one of two remaining railways on Vancouver Island, the other being the Englewood Railway. The railroad runs from Victoria to Courtenay, with a line from Parksville to Port Alberni. In 2006, the Island Corridor Foundation acquired the ownership from the Canadian Pacific Railway. Both freight service and the crown corporation Via Rail passenger service have been suspended due to deferred maintenance on the railroad. The Pacific terminus of the railway was not specific but the plan would have the railway cross the Rockies by the Yellowhead Pass. It would cross Sonora Island and Quadra Island and reach Vancouver Island by a bridge across Seymour Narrows, through the influence of then BC Premier Amor de Cosmos, this plan was adopted by Order in Council by the federal government on 7 June 1873. Two shipments of rail were delivered to Victoria from the United Kingdom. In 1873, Prime Minister of Canada Sir John A. Macdonald had stated that Esquimalt, British Columbia, in 1874 British Columbia threatened to withdraw from Confederation and Premier Walkem petitioned the Queen for relief from these delays. Then Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie and Walkem agreed to arbitration of the dispute by the Earl of Carnarvon. His award, given 17 November 1874 gave an extension of time for the construction, despite the promises of both parties to be bound by his ruling, the federal government bill approving the award failed in the Senate of Canada. British Columbians were indignant and withdrawal from Confederation was raised again, in 1879 Lord Dufferin was sent to BC to assess the situation. Governor General Dufferin arriving in Victoria had to take an alternate route rather than pass below an arch across the street that bore a banner reading Carnarvon Terms or Separation. Walkem, although no longer premier, was sent to Ottawa to press for the Esquimalt to Nanaimo section and this issue was pressed again in 1880 by Amor de Cosmos and when that failed another petition to London was presented in 1881. The father of Canadian Confederation Sir John A, the old chieftain said, Both the Government of which I was the head and the Government of which he was the head were bound by the original resolutions. It was a matter of Colonial policy and Imperial policy in England that the road should be constructed, Robert Dunsmuir, the Nanaimo coal baron and a member of the provincial legislature, was interested in owning the railway project and in the provinces coal reserves. The fact that Dunsmuir was a member of the government that was making the deal aroused some suspicion about corruption. Dunsmuir and three incorporated the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway with Dunsmuir president and owner of one half of the shares. The company estimated that it would cost $1.5 million to construct, Dunsmuir planned to integrate the railway with the systems being built in Washington and Oregon with a ferry link from Victoria

25.
Track (rail transport)
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The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties and ballast, plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a surface for their wheels to roll upon. For clarity it is referred to as railway track or railroad track. Tracks where electric trains or electric trams run are equipped with a system such as an overhead electrical power line or an additional electrified rail. The term permanent way also refers to the track in addition to structures such as fences etc. Most railroads with heavy traffic use continuously welded rails supported by sleepers attached via baseplates that spread the load, a plastic or rubber pad is usually placed between the rail and the tieplate where concrete sleepers are used. The rail is held down to the sleeper with resilient fastenings. For much of the 20th century, rail track used softwood timber sleepers and jointed rails, jointed rails were used at first because contemporary technology did not offer any alternative. The joints also needed to be lubricated, and wear at the mating surfaces needed to be rectified by shimming. For this reason jointed track is not financially appropriate for heavily operated railroads, timber sleepers are of many available timbers, and are often treated with creosote, copper-chrome-arsenic, or other wood preservative. Pre-stressed concrete sleepers are used where timber is scarce and where tonnage or speeds are high. Steel is used in some applications, the track ballast is customarily crushed stone, and the purpose of this is to support the sleepers and allow some adjustment of their position, while allowing free drainage. A disadvantage of traditional track structures is the demand for maintenance, particularly surfacing and lining to restore the desired track geometry. Weakness of the subgrade and drainage deficiencies also lead to maintenance costs. This can be overcome by using ballastless track, in its simplest form this consists of a continuous slab of concrete with the rails supported directly on its upper surface. There are a number of systems, and variations include a continuous reinforced concrete slab. Many permutations of design have been put forward, however, ballastless track has a high initial cost, and in the case of existing railroads the upgrade to such requires closure of the route for a long period. Its whole-life cost can be lower because of the reduction in maintenance, some rubber-tyred metros use ballastless tracks

26.
Quadruple track
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A quadruple-track railway is a railway line consisting of four parallel tracks, with two tracks used in each direction. Quadruple-track railways can handle large amounts of traffic, and so are used on busy routes. Some tracks are only tripled, having one extra track to relieve congestion, while some tracks are sextupled. Quadruple track can manage a larger amount of traffic with usually twice the capacity of double track and it is often seen around large metropolis or on busy inter-city corridors. In quadruple track, faster trains can overtake slower ones, High-speed rail of 200 km/h average speed and commuter rail of 40 km/h average can co-exist in quadruple track without interrupting each other. Quadruple track costs more due to requiring more materials and increased land acquisition costs and this also applies to tunneling and bridge costs. When adding tracks, land acquisition can become prohibitively expensive, maintenance costs are higher and often more complex as there may be more switches on the track than on a two-track line. For safety, costly grade separations are almost always required, in quadruple track, trains are sorted in various ways in order to make maximum use of track capacity. These can include one or a combination of, Sorting by speed A faster express line and it increases the capacity of that route significantly, and allows for significant increases in inter-city high-speed train frequency with reduced travel times. Sorting by distance Long distance inter-city rail and freight trains are separated from short distance commuter rail and this helps to prevent delays on one service affecting the other, and is commonly seen in metropolitan areas. Quadrupling may be necessary when a new rail service begins to operate on an existing line. Sometimes the local trains have separate technology, such as electrical system or signalling, Sorting by destination When a quadruple track line divides to different destinations part way along, trains need to be sorted by their destination. Sorting by passenger/ freight Passenger trains and freight trains can be separated with each different track and this is somewhat still done to this day by NS, CSX, and Conrail Shared Assets trains on Amtrak-owned trackage in the Philadelphia area. Other modes Two double track lines along opposite sides of a river can operate as a quadruple track, examples of this can be found in Rhone in France and Rhine in Germany. As it can be seen from the pictures below in the Gallery of diagrams, sometimes two of the tracks go more straight and with a little distance from the two other. This is a decision when widening a double track section. The New York Centrals Water Level Route across upstate New York was four-tracked in majority as early as 1876 and this was extended to Buffalo by 1936. Financial troubles and changing traffic patterns caused this to be downgraded to a track by 1975

27.
Railroad switch
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A railroad switch, turnout or points is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another, such as at a railway junction or where a spur or siding branches off. The switch consists of the pair of linked tapering rails, known as points and these points can be moved laterally into one of two positions to direct a train coming from the point blades toward the straight path or the diverging path. A train moving from the end toward the point blades is said to be executing a facing-point movement. Passage through a switch in this direction is known as a trailing-point movement, a switch generally has a straight through track and a diverging route. The handedness of the installation is described by the side that the track leaves. Right-hand switches have a path to the right of the straight track, when coming from the point blades. In many cases, such as yards, many switches can be found in a short section of track. Sometimes a switch merely divides one track into two, at others, it serves as a connection between two or more tracks, allowing a train to switch between them. A straight track is not always present, for example, both tracks may curve, one to the left and one to the right, or both tracks may curve, with differing radii, while still in the same direction. A railroad cars wheels are guided along the tracks by coning of the wheels, only in extreme cases does it rely on the flanges located on the insides of the wheels. When the wheels reach the switch, the wheels are guided along the route determined by which of the two points is connected to the track facing the switch. In the illustration, if the point is connected, the left wheel will be guided along the rail of that point. If the right point is connected, the right wheels flange will be guided along the rail of that point, and the train will continue along the straight track. Only one of the points may be connected to the track at any time. A mechanism is provided to move the points from one position to the other, historically, this would require a lever to be moved by a human operator, and some switches are still controlled this way. However, most are now operated by a remotely controlled electric motor or by pneumatic or hydraulic actuation and this both allows for remote control and for stiffer, strong switches that would be too difficult to move by hand, yet allow for higher speeds. In a trailing-point movement, the flanges on the wheels will force the points to the proper position and this is sometimes known as running through the switch. Some switches are designed to be forced to the position without damage

28.
Siding (rail)
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A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end, sidings often have lighter rails, meant for lower speed or less heavy traffic, and few, if any, signals. Sidings connected at both ends to a line are commonly known as loops, otherwise they are known as single-ended sidings or dead end sidings. Sidings may be used for marshalling, stabling, storing, loading and unloading vehicles, common sidings store stationary rolling stock, especially for loading and unloading. Industrial sidings go to factories, mines, quarries, wharves, warehouses, such sidings can sometimes be found at stations for public use, in American usage these are referred to as team tracks. Sidings may also hold maintenance of way equipment or other equipment, allowing trains to pass, some sidings have very occasional use, having been built, for example, to service an industry, a railway yard or a stub of a disused railway that has since closed. It is not uncommon for a siding to fall into disrepair. A particular form of siding is the siding or passing loop. This is a section of parallel to a through line. Sidings allow trains travelling in opposite directions to pass, and for fast, sidings are very important for operating efficiency on single track lines, and add to the capacity of other lines. A siding may have lighter rail than the main track, the rail used may not be continuous welded rail but rather joined by angle bars. The railway owner may place less emphasis on the quality of the ties and the ballast used on the siding as compared to that on its main track. A siding may not receive or may not require, the degree of scrutiny and maintenance that the more heavily travelled main track may receive. ”Interestingly. This same naming convention for sidings is followed in the American rules for railroad operation, the General Code of Operating Rules Seventh Edition effective April 1,2015 defines a siding as “A track connected to the main track and used for meeting or passing trains. Location of sidings are shown in the timetable. ”The definition is interesting in that it appears to attach a single purpose to a siding, like their Canadian counterparts, there also is no assigned number of main track switch connections in this definition of a siding. The employee time table for these Canadian railroads also uses the single word “Siding” to describe this section of track, a designated siding in the railroad’s employee timetable is shown with a siding capacity which is its usable length as measured in feet. Typically the track centre for a siding or any track adjacent to the track is a standard distance to allow the safe passage of trains including trains that may be handling dimensional shipments. At the two ends of the siding, that distance is compromised as the siding joins the main track, as such the railway will display an appropriate stopping point on both the main track and the siding track to ensure the safe passage of both trains

29.
Balloon loop
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A balloon loop, turning loop or reversing loop allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or even stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains such as coal trains, Balloon loops are common on tram or streetcar systems. Balloon loops were first introduced on metro and tram lines, Balloon loops enable higher line capacity and also allow the use of single-ended trams which have several advantages, including lower cost and more seating when doors are on one side only. However, double-ended trams also benefit from the capacity advantage of balloon loops, initially the Sydney system was operated by single-ended steam trams and then, from the 1890s, by double-ended electric trams. The Sydney system was possibly the first major example of a tramway system. European systems were converted to looped operation in the early twentieth century. Looped operation with single-ended trams was also used on many North American streetcar systems, on a balloon loop, the station is on the balloon loop, and the platform may be curved or straight. Penfield - now closed and removed Outer Harbor - now closed and removed Olympic Park, Sydney, Australia, Beech Forrest, Victoria, Australia, single platform station on Victorian narrow gauge railway. These trains discharge and take on passengers at Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall, South Ferry was a two-track subway loop station in New York City, with a sharply curved side platform for each track. After the latter station was damaged in Hurricane Sandy, the station was reopened temporarily to provide service to the ferry terminal until the repairs to the latter station are complete. Bowdoin Station on the MBTA Blue Line in Boston has an island platform inside a balloon loop. The boarding platform is long enough for four cars. World Trade Center station on the PATH subway system linking New York, dungeness, Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, Kent, England, single track, single platform for both boarding and alighting. This evens the wear on the train wheels, central station in Newcastle upon Tyne is on a loop, allowing trains from the South to arrive via the King Edward VII Bridge and return using the High Level Bridge. Peasholm on the North Bay Railway in Scarborough, North Yorkshire has a balloon loop. The loop is used to allow the locomotive to run round the train, the first Wembley Stadium station in London was on a balloon loop, but the present station of that name is not. Barmouth Ferry station on the Fairbourne Railway, blackpool Tramway has a balloon loop at each end of the system and at two intermediate points. Kennington station, also on the Northern line, has a loop to the south of the station to allow terminating southbound trains to reach the northbound platforms to form a return service

30.
Rail yard
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A rail yard, railway yard or railroad yard is the US term for a complex series of railroad tracks for storing, sorting, or loading/unloading, railroad cars and/or locomotives. Railroad yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock stored off the mainline, railroad cars are moved around by specially designed yard switchers, a type of locomotive. Cars in a railroad yard may be sorted by categories, including railroad company, loaded or unloaded, destination, car type. Railroad yards are built where there is a need to store cars while they are not being loaded or unloaded. Large yards may have a tower to control operations, many railway yards are located at strategic points on a main line. Main line yards are often composed of an Up yard and a Down yard, there are different types of yards, and different parts within a yard, depending on how they are built. They are decoupled and let to accelerate into the classification equipment lower down, a flat yard has no hump, and relies on locomotives for all car movements. A large sub-group of such yards are known as Staging yards, the long haul carrier makes the round trip with a minimal turn around time, and the local switch engine transfers empties to the loading yard when the industries output is ready to be shipped. In the staging yard, the locomotive is most likely operated by industry, since overall throughput speed matters, many have small pneumatic, hydraulic or spring driven braking retarders to adjust and slow speed both before and after yard switch points. Along with car tracking and load tracking to destination technologies such as RFID long trains can be broken down and reconfigured in transfer yards or operations in remarkable time. Transfer yard is a yard where consists are dropped off or picked up as a group by through service such as a Unit Train, but managed locally by local switching service locomotives. Unit tracks may be reserved for Unit trains, which carry a block of all of the same origin and destination. Such consists often stop in a yard for other purposes, inspection. Freight yards may have multiple industries adjacent to them where railroad cars are loaded or unloaded and then stored before they move on to their new destination. Major freight yards in the U. S. Major U. K. goods yards include those in Crewe, Reading and Bescot, near Walsall, coach yards are used for sorting, storing and repairing passenger cars. These yards are located in areas near large stations or terminals. An example of a major U. S. coach yard is Sunnyside Yard in New York City and those that are principally used for storage, such as the West Side Yard in New York, are called layup yards or stabling yards. Major U. K. coach stabling yards include those in Crewe and Longsight, Manchester, which are operated by various regional train companies

31.
Classification yard
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A classification yard or marshalling yard is a railway yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railway cars on to one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill, from there the cars are sent through a series of switches called a ladder onto the classification tracks. Larger yards tend to put the lead on an artificially built hill called a hump to use the force of gravity to propel the cars through the ladder, freight trains that consist of isolated cars must be made into trains and divided according to their destinations. Thus the cars must be shunted several times along their route in contrast to a unit train and this shunting is done partly at the starting and final destinations and partly in classification yards. Flat yards are constructed on ground, or on a gentle slope. Freight cars are pushed by a locomotive and coast to their required location, hump yards are the largest and most effective classification yards, with the largest shunting capacity, often several thousand cars a day. The heart of these yards is the lead track on a small hill over which an engine pushes the cars. As concerns speed regulation, there are two types of hump yards—without or with mechanisation by retarders, in the old non-retarder yards braking was usually done in Europe by railroaders who laid skates onto the tracks. The skate or chock was manually placed on one or both of the rails so that the treadles or rims of the wheel or wheels caused frictional retardation, in the United States this braking was done by riders on the cars. In the modern retarder yards this work is done by mechanized rail brakes called retarders and they are operated either pneumatically or hydraulically. Pneumatic systems are prevalent in the United States, France, Belgium, Russia and China, while hydraulic systems are used in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. In the United States, many classification bowls have more than 40 tracks—up to 72—which are often divided into six to ten tracks in each balloon loop. Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska, United States, the worlds largest classification yard, is a hump yard, notably, in Europe, Russia and China, all major classification yards are hump yards. Europes largest hump yard is that of Maschen near Hamburg, Germany, the second largest is in the port of Antwerp, Belgium. According to the PRRT&HS PRR Chronology, the first hump yard in the United States was opened May 11,1903 as part of the Altoona Yards at Bells Mills. Other sources report the PRR yard at Youngwood, PA which opened in the 1880s to serve the Connellsville coke fields as the first U. S. hump yard. Gravity yards are operated similarly to hump yards but, in contrast to the latter, thus, only few gravity yards were ever built, sometimes requiring massive earthwork. Most gravity yards were built in Germany and Great Britain, a few also in some other European countries, in the USA, there were only very few old gravity yards, one of the few gravity yards in operation today is CSXs Readville Yard south of Boston, Massachusetts

32.
Junction (rail)
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A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. This implies a connection between the tracks of the two routes, provided by points and signalling. In a simple case where two routes with one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a simple layout of tracks suffices to allow trains to transfer from one route to the other. More complicated junctions are needed to permit trains to travel in direction after joining the new route. In this latter case, the three points of the triangle may be different names, for example using points of the compass as well as the name of the overall place. Rail transport operations refer to stations that lie on or near a railway junction as a junction station, frequently, trains are built up and taken apart at such stations so that the same train can split up and go to multiple destinations. For goods trains, marshalling yards serve a similar purpose, the worlds first railway junction was Newton Junction near Newton-le-Willows, England where, in 1831, two railways merged. The capacity of the limits the capacity of a railway network more than the capacity of individual railway lines. This applies more as the density increases. Measures to improve junctions are often more useful than building new railway lines, the capacity of a railway junction can be increased with improved signalling measures, by building points suitable for higher speeds, or by turning level junctions into flying junctions. With more complicated junctions such construction can rapidly become very expensive, especially if space is restricted by tunnels, rail terminology Interlocking Railway town Double junction

33.
Flying junction
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A more technical term is grade-separated junction. A burrowing junction or dive-under occurs where the line passes below the main line. The alternative to separation is a level junction or flat junction, where tracks cross at grade. Where two lines each of two tracks merge with a junction, they can become a four-track railway together. This happens regularly in the Netherlands, nearly all junctions with high-speed railways are grade-separated. The LGV network has four grade-separated high-speed triangles, Fretin, Coubert, Massy, a fifth, Vémars, is grade separated except for a single-track link on the least-used side, linking Paris Gare du Nord and Paris CDG airport. Triangle des Angles, Avignon, with two parallel 1.5 km viaducts, triangle de Massy, Paris, partial four-way junction. Before conversion to a junction, this was the site of the Harmelen train disaster. In addition, lead tracks to Cabot Yard maintenance facilities branch off from the junction, all were built by the former Pennsylvania Railroad and are now maintained by Amtrak. 39. 97086°N75. 19848°W﻿ /39.97086, -75.19848 on the New York City Subway at Hammels Wye on the IND Rockaway Line, the grade separations of the junction are woven into the grade separations of the interchange between the two highways. This would have part of the Oklahoma Avenue station, had it been built. South of the King Street station in Alexandria is a series of tunnels where the Blue, there are also flying junctions near three underground rail stations, Rosslyn, LEnfant Plaza, and the Pentagon

34.
Level junction
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The cross-over structure is sometimes called a diamond junction or diamond crossing in reference to the diamond-shaped center. The two tracks need not necessarily be of the same gauge, a diamond crossing is also used as a component of a double junction, like the one illustrated on the right. The opposite of a junction is a flying junction, where individual tracks rise or fall to pass over or under other tracks. Conflicting routes must be controlled by interlocked signals to prevent collisions, level junctions, particularly those of fine angles or near right angles, create derailment risks and impose speed restrictions. Level junctions are considered an issue by railroad companies as the inherent gaps tend to be hard on locomotive. Switched diamonds partially solve these problems, but introduce new ones, at Nagpur, India which is called the Diamond Crossing by the local Railway authorities. At Newark flat crossing in the United Kingdom, where the East Coast Main Line and this is the fastest flat-crossing in the UK, with trains travelling north-south allowed to cross the junction at 100 mph. Protection of the junction is controlled by signalling, the junctions leading onto and off from the Loop of the Chicago L are examples of this problem. The New York City Subway system mostly uses flying junctions, but in a few parts of the system. Examples include the 142nd Street Junction and the Myrtle Avenue junction, level junctions are often found on tram or streetcar networks where lines cross or split. While the latter crossing rarely causes delays, the former is at an intersection of four lines, earlier such splits in Boston were built as flying junctions, but the two level splits were built as level junctions mostly to save money. A diamond crossing between standard gauge and broad gauge exists at Ararat in Victoria, Australia, at Porthmadog, in Wales, there is a flat-crossing between the single track standard gauge Cambrian Line and the narrow-gauge Welsh Highland Railway. In Darby, Pennsylvania, USA, the SEPTA Route 11 line, using Pennsylvania trolley gauge of 5 ft 2 1⁄2 in, media related to Rail junctions at Wikimedia Commons

35.
Double junction
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A double junction is a railway junction where a double track railway splits into two double track lines. Usually, one line is the line and carries traffic through the junction at normal speed. A number of configurations are possible, the simplest and oldest arrangement consists of two turnouts and a fixed diamond crossing. Because the diamond needs to be coarse, say 1 in 8. This type of junction is common on street-running tramways, where speeds are quite low, because the points are close together, the entire junction can be controlled by the mechanical point rodding of a single signal box. Signal passed at danger protection — A train from R to P with 12 points reverse is protected from a train from P doing a SPAD by 11 points also lying reverse, a train from P to Q is NOT protected from a train from R doing a SPAD. The fixed diamond can be replaced with a diamond, which eliminates the gap in rails at the K-crossing. However, switched diamonds are not a solution to the K-crossing problem, as the switches are very coarse compared to the finer switches of a turnout. The additional ends are also awkward to control unless power operated point machines are used, an improved junction replaces the diamond with turnouts, which can be of as fine an angle as possible, so that this junction can carry branch traffic at high speed. This configuration assumes power operation of the points, as high speed turnouts are generally not suitable for mechanical operation, the high speed turnouts may require more than one point machine each. The turnouts can have no superelevation while the curve in the branch can, since the ladder type junction requires much more length, diamond type junctions can only be converted into ladder types if there is room and no bridges, tunnels, or platforms in the way. SPAD protection Essentially the same as for a junction with diamond. Examples include Harris Park railway station, Sydney, a single lead junction is used where traffic density is lower, and moves one of the turnouts on the main line onto the branch. This may reduce the number of turnouts on the line that are subject to wear. The diamond crossing is a component due to the gaps in the K-crossings. Space permitting, a single lead junction may be a stage towards construction of a higher speed ladder junction, however, unlike in the ladder, branch trains in opposite directions can collide head-on at 32 if either one passes a signal at danger. This has contributed to accidents, e. g. in the UK at, Glasgow Bellgrove on 6 March 1989. These risks can be reduced by trap points, ATP or TPWS, the hazard of the short section of single line with the single lead junction would be reduced if there were two red signals protecting it

36.
Facing and trailing
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Facing and trailing are terms used to describe railway turnouts in respect to whether they are divergent or convergent. When a train traverses a turnout in a direction, it may diverge onto either of the two routes. When travelled in a direction, the two routes converge onto each other. Facing turnouts were therefore banned, except when absolutely necessary, facing turnouts cannot be avoided on single lines and their crossing loops. With the widespread availability of electrically interlocked signalling in modern times, so-called switch diamonds, which contain two stub turnouts in disguise, count as facing turnouts in both directions and are also known as moveable angles. Fixed V-crossings are trailable in both directions, moveable crossings are effectively facing in both directions and must be correctly aligned. Stub switches are effectively facing in both directions and must be correctly aligned, double junctions are now configurable in a number of different ways, whereby the number of facing and trailing turnouts vary. The goods siding on a double line uses two trailing points and a diamond and it can be shunted by trains in either direction. This was widely done in New South Wales, though later on the crossing was replaced with a pair of ladder crossovers, such as

37.
Grand union
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A grand union is a rail track junction where two double-track railway lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads. A total of sixteen railroad switches allow streetcars coming from any direction to any of the three other directions. The same effect may be achieved with two consequent wyes if the location allows for space and these types of complex junction are expensive to build and expensive to maintain. A full grand union junction consists of 88 frogs, and 32 switchpoints if single-point switches are not used, a tram or train crossing the junction will encounter four or twenty frogs within the space of crossing the junction. For all of the tracks of a grand union to be used during normal operation. In an intersection with lines oriented towards cardinal directions, these could be, north-south, north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west, half unions are similar, but only have curved junction tracks on two adjoining corners of the intersection, with a total of eight switches/points. Butterfly unions share the total of eight switches/points, but the junction tracks are on opposing corners. Montreal, The system operated by Montreal Tramways Company had several grand unions, the system includes three grand unions, five three-quarter unions, four half unions, and four butterfly unions. Some unions have additional connections that do not fit typical classifications, the traditional grand unions are located at Bathurst and King, Spadina and King and Spadina and Queen. King and Dufferin is a 7/8 union, it is missing the curve from southbound to westbound, Boston, The Boston Elevated Railway had four grand unions on Washington Street, at Hanover Street, Boylston and Essex Streets, Southampton Street, and Dover Street. Another grand union existed at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Huntington Avenue, an eighth grand union had existed at Dewey Square. Chicago, The Chicago Transit Authority has a union at Tower 18. This union has the notable distinctions of not only being built entirely on elevated bridgework over the streets below, seattle, The Seattle-Tacoma Interurban was believed to have a single grand union, located at N. 34th St. and Fremont Ave. San Francisco, The San Francisco Municipal Railways light rail line has several half grand unions, examples include the facility at Church Street and Duboce Avenue and just outside the West Portal station. The agencys logo resembles a full grand union, salt Lake City, The Utah Transit Authoritys TRAX system has 2 half grand unions,1 quarter grand union, and a three interlocking combination that offers the effect of a half grand union. Auckland, New Zealand, The Auckland system formerly had two grand unions, located at Queen Streets intersections with both Customs Street and Wellesley Street, Melbourne, Australia, The only surviving grand union in the Southern Hemisphere is Balaclava Junction on the Melbourne tram system, in Australia. It is located at 37°5221. 56S 145°129. 01E, graz has a grand union at Jakominiplatz, 47°41. 45N 15°2630. 92E Brno, has a 3/4 union located at 49°1216. 24N 16°3725. 54E. Olomouc, has one grand union located at 49°3544. 42N 17°1450. 27E, cottbus has one grand union at 51°4539. 86N 14°1951. 39E and a 3/4 grand union at 51°4457. 54N 14°1942. 50E

38.
Wye (rail)
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A turning wye is a specific case. Wyes can also be used for turning equipment, and generally cover less area than a balloon loop doing the same job. When and where a wye is built specifically for equipment reversing purposes, in materials and annual taxes, the cost of two junctions is offset by saved capital investment and yearly taxes. Tram or streetcar tracks also use of triangular junctions and sometimes have a short triangle or wye stubs to turn the car at the end of the line. The use of triangular junctions allows flexibility in routing trains from any line to any other line, for this reason they are common across most rail networks. Slower bi-directional trains may enter a wye, letting a faster one pass, where one or more of the lines meeting at the junction are multi-track, the presence of a triangular junction does introduce a number of potential conflicting moves. For this reason, where traffic is heavy, the junction may incorporate flying junctions on some, or all, from time to time it is necessary to turn both individual pieces of railroad equipment or whole trains. Even where equipment is symmetrical, periodic turning may still be necessary in order to even wear, there are several different techniques that can be used to achieve such turning. Rail turntables require the least space, but can only deal with a single piece of equipment at a time. Balloon or turning loops can turn trains of any length – up to the length of the loop – in a single operation. Rail wyes can be constructed on sites where a loop would not be possible, Railroad systems in North America and Australia have tended to have more wyes than railroads elsewhere. North American locomotives and cars are likely to be directional than those found on other continents. In Canada and the United States, the railroad often was built other structures. In Europe, although some use was made of bi-directional tank locomotives and push-pull trains, because of land usage considerations, turntables were normally used to turn such locomotives, and most terminal stations and locomotive depots were so equipped. Over time, most diesel and electric locomotives ordered in Europe have been designed to be fully bi-directional, symmetrical, thus most turntables and, where they existed, rail wyes, have been taken out of use. Similar considerations apply to the use of junctions and reversing wyes on streetcar and tram systems. Many, although by no means all, streetcar and tram systems use single ended vehicles that have doors on one side only, however the vehicles used on such systems tend to have much smaller minimum curvature requirements than heavy rail equipment. This renders the use of a balloon loop more practical in an amount of space

39.
Swingnose crossing
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A swingnose crossing or moveable point frog is a device used at a railway turnout to eliminate the gap at the common crossing which can cause damage and noise. On a fixed crossing, the wheels need only drift by a small angle, say 1 in 20. This problem can limit the speed of vehicles using the crossing. This pounds the rail so much that the steel can deform and/or wear away and this damage may easily spread to other components including the wheels, and the noise can be a nuisance. Scheduling repair of damage can also be a problem in high traffic locations, swingnose crossings virtually eliminate the gap at V-crossings allowing for higher vehicle speeds. The swingnose crossing overcomes the problem of the gap by moving the point of the V-crossing from side to side, the wheels are supported the entire way on their treads, and do not produce noise and vibration that would otherwise occur. Swingnose crossings are also useful where heavy rail and light rail vehicles, a variety of swingnose crossing, suitable for locations where a branch line turns off a higher-speed line, is the swing wing crossing. In this device, the V-crossing does not need its own motor but is moved by the flange of a wheel on the branch track. It returns to its position when the diverging train has passed, pushed by a damped spring. Swingnose crossings would be used for V-crossings finer than about 1 in 20, swingnose crossings need to operate at the same time as the main turnout switches to which they belong. This may require excessive effort for manual operation, and require a point motor, the main turnout and the swingnose crossing will require separate machines. A switched diamond is a crossing in which the fixed frogs are replaced by moveable frogs

40.
Level crossing
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A level crossing, or grade crossing, is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road or path at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using a bridge or tunnel. The term also applies when a rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion. Other names include railway crossing, road through railroad, railroad crossing, early level crossings had a flagman in a nearby booth who would, on the approach of a train, wave a red flag or lantern to stop all traffic and clear the tracks. Manual or electrical closable gates that barricaded the roadway were later introduced, intended to be a barrier against intrusion of any road traffic onto the railway. In the early days of the railways much road traffic was horsedrawn or included livestock, when opened to allow road users to cross the tracks, the gates were swung across the width of the railway, preventing any pedestrians or animals getting onto the tracks. The first US patent for such crossing gates was awarded on 27 August 1867, to J. Nason and J. F. Wilson, later, as motor vehicles appeared, this type of barrier became less effective, while the need for a barrier to livestock diminished dramatically. Many countries therefore replaced the fully gated crossings with weaker but more-visible barriers, Railroad trains have a much larger mass relative to their braking capability, and thus a far longer braking distance than road vehicles. In general, trains do not stop at level crossings but rely on vehicles, Level crossings constitute a significant safety concern internationally. On average, each year 400 people are killed in the European Union, collisions can occur with vehicles as well as pedestrians, pedestrian collisions are more likely to result in a fatality. Among pedestrians, young people, older people and males are considered to be high risk users, fewer collisions take place at level crossings with active warning systems. Modern radar sensor systems can detect if level crossings are free of obstructions as trains approach and these improve safety by not lowering crossing barriers that may trap vehicles or pedestrians on the tracks, while signalling trains to brake until the obstruction clears. At railway stations, a level crossing is sometimes provided to allow passengers to reach other platforms in the absence of an underpass or bridge. Level crossings in Thailand, and Malaysia are largely manually operated, a significant number of crossings are without barriers. But there are some that are used on the line between Port Klang - Westport. However, it seems like only the crossing near Port Klang Komuter Station has the barrier. Speed up campaigns have largely eliminated many crossings on heavily used main lines though some still do exist. Most at-grade crossings in China are for smaller industrial spur and access lines which may or may not have crossing gates, chinas level crossing barriers are the fastest in the world. Most of Hong Kongs railway network is either underground or on elevated viaducts, however, level crossings continue to exist on the MTR Light Rail network, and one such level crossing was the site of a level crossing accident in 1994

41.
Train station
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A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot is a railway facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers or freight. It generally consists of at least one platform and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales. If a station is on a line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements. The smallest stations are most often referred to as stops or, in parts of the world. Stations may be at level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other modes such as buses. In British usage, the station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified. In the United States, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station, Railway station and railroad station are less frequent. Outside North America, a depot is place where buses, trains, or other vehicles are housed and maintained and from which they are dispatched for service. The two-storey Mount Clare station in Baltimore, Maryland, which survives as a museum, first saw service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore. The oldest terminal station in the world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, built in 1830, as the first train on the Liverpool-Manchester line left Liverpool, the station is slightly older than the Manchester terminal at Liverpool Road. The station was the first to incorporate a train shed, the station was demolished in 1836 as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station. Crown Street station was converted to a goods station terminal, the first stations had little in the way of buildings or amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, manchesters Liverpool Road Station, the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses, dual-purpose stations can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States, such stations were known as flag stops or flag stations. Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the architecture of the time. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th-century styles, various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of stations, from those boasting grand, intricate, Baroque- or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles

42.
Railway platform
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A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a railway station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. Almost all rail stations have some form of platform, with larger stations having multiple platforms, the term platform has also gained usage as a verb among some rail conductors, as in, The first two cars will not platform at. The term railway platform can also mean any type of freight platform beside a rail siding for loading/unloading freight to/from rail cars. The most basic form of platform consists of an area at the level as the track. This would often not be considered a true platform, the more traditional platform is elevated relative to the track but often lower than the train floor, although ideally they should be at the same level. On the London Underground some stations are served by both District line and Piccadilly line trains, and the Piccadilly trains have lower floors. A tram stop is often in the middle of the street, usually it has as a platform a refuge area of a height to that of the sidewalk. The latter requires extra care by passengers and other traffic to avoid accidents, both types of tram stops can be seen in the tram networks of Melbourne and Toronto. A train station may be served by heavy-rail and light-rail vehicles with lower floors and have a dual- height platform, platform types include the bay platform, side platform, split platform and island platform. A bay platform is one at which the track terminates, i. e. a dead-end or siding, trains serving a bay platform must reverse in or out. A side platform is the usual type, alongside tracks where the train arrives from one end. An island platform has through platforms on both sides, it may be indented on one or both ends, with bay platforms, to reach an island platform there may be a bridge, a tunnel, or a level crossing. The climb up to the bridge or down to the tunnel may use stairs, ramps, escalators, lifts, or a combination of the above. Some, such as London Waterloo East, use instead of numbers, some, such as Paris-Gare de Lyon, use letters for one group of platforms. Usually platform numbering is a numbering of the areas in the station. In some cases, tracks used only for traffic without platform access also have a number. In North America, reference is made to a track. The term platform is used in the US, but a single island platform may have access to two tracks

43.
Side platform
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A side platform is a platform positioned to the side of a pair of tracks at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. Dual side platform stations, one for direction of travel, is the basic station design used for double-track railway lines. Side platforms may result in a wider overall footprint for the station compared with a platform where a single width of platform can be shared by riders using either track. In some stations, the two platforms are connected by a footbridge running above and over the tracks. While a pair of platforms is often provided on a dual-track line. Where the station is close to a crossing the platforms may either be on the same side of the crossing road or alternatively may be staggered in one of two ways. With the near-side platforms configuration, each platform appears before the intersection, in some situations a single side platform can be served by multiple vehicles simultaneously with a scissors crossing provided to allow access mid-way along its length. Normally, the facilities of the station are located on the Up platform with the other platform accessed from a footbridge. However, in cases the stations main buildings are located on whichever side faces the town or village the station serves. Larger stations may have two platforms with several island platforms in between. Some are in a Spanish solution format, with two platforms and an island platform in between, serving two tracks

44.
Island platform
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An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on twin-track routes due to pragmatic and cost-effective reasons, an alternative arrangement is to position side platforms on either side of the tracks. The historical use of island platforms depends greatly upon the location, the island platform layout is a popular, cost-effective and practical solution in modern railway systems. Island platforms allow facilities such as escalators, elevators, shops, toilets and this is essential for wheelchair accessible stations. An island platform makes it easier for users and the infirm to change services between tracks. Additionally, an island platform layout eliminates the need to construct a crossover or subway between two platforms, however, island platforms may become overcrowded, especially at busy stations, and this can lead to safety issues such as Clapham Common and Angel on the London Underground. However, for the tracks to diverge around the platform, extra width is required along the right-of-way on each approach to the station. Track centers vary for rail systems throughout the world but are normally 3 to 5 meters, if the island platform is 6 meters wide, the tracks have to slew out by the same distance. While this is not a problem on a new line that is being constructed, in addition, a single island platform makes it quite difficult to have through tracks, which are usually between the local tracks. A common configuration in busy locations on high speed lines is a pair of island platforms, high-speed trains can therefore pass straight through the station, while slow trains pass around the platforms. This arrangement also allows the station to serve as a point where trains can be passed by faster trains. The purpose of this design was to reduce unnecessary passenger congestion at a station with a high volume of passengers. Many of the stations on the Great Central Railway were constructed in this form and this was because the line was planned to connect to a Channel Tunnel. Island platforms are a normal sight on Indian railway stations. Almost all railway stations in India consist of island platforms, in Toronto,29 subway stations use island platforms. A slight disadvantage is that crossovers have to be rather long, in southern New Jersey and Philadelphia, PATCO uses island platforms in all of its 13 stations, to facilitate one-person train operation. Most elevated stations in Singapores Mass Rapid Transit system use island platforms, the exception is Dover MRT Station, which uses side platforms as it is built on an existing rail line. The planned Canberra MRT Station will also use side platforms, as it also be built on an existing rail line

45.
Bay platform
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In the United Kingdom and in Australia, a bay platform is a dead-end railway platform at a railway station that has through lines. It is normal for bay platforms to be shorter than their associated through platforms, bay and island platforms are so named because they resemble the geographic features of the same name. Chicagos CTA OHare Airport Station features a bay platform with one track on the bay, the Hoboken and 33 St Stations on the PATH train line have bay platforms. Ferry Avenue on the PATCO Speedline also has a bay platform, however, in the New York City Subway, such platforms are thought of as side or island platforms connected at the ends, rather than bay platforms. Trains which use a bay platform have to reverse direction and depart in the direction from which they arrived, dock platforms are similar to bay platforms but are generally shorter and used to unload freight

46.
Split platform
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A split platform is a station that has a platform for each track, split onto two or more levels. This configuration allows a narrower station plan horizontally, at the expense of a vertical elevation, because sets of tracks. On the London Underground, to minimise the risk of subsidence, if a road was too narrow to allow the construction of side-by-side tunnels, they would be aligned one above the other, so that a number of stations have platforms at different levels. Split platforms are also at downtown Oakland, California on BARTs 12th and 19th Street, mARTAs Ashby station uses the configuration to separate the eastbound and westbound platforms. A similar configuration was once planned for downtown San Francisco stations, in the New York City Subway, Nostrand Avenue and Kingston Avenue stations on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line have two tracks on each level, with each of the two levels serving trains in one direction. Further north on the Eastern Parkway line, Borough Hall also has split platforms, also, stations on the IND Eighth Avenue Line have split stacked platforms between 59th Street – Columbus Circle] and Cathedral Parkway – 110th Street due to the proximity of the line to Central Park. In other stations like Fulton Street, Borough Hall, and Fifth Avenue / 53rd Street, one notable station, Wilson Avenue on the BMT Canarsie Line, has one elevated platform and one at-grade platform, due to the narrowness of the lines right-of-way. They are also found on Vancouvers SkyTrain, at the stations in the Dunsmuir Tunnel, milan Metro SantAgostino on line M2 is similar, and also all the stations between Crocetta and Turati on line M3. On Munich Marienplatz Station the Munich S-Bahn are on two levels, where westbound trains depart from the lower level, eastbound trains from the upper level. Below the westbound level there is an interchange to the metro lines U3, in Nuremberg metro network, the station Plärrer has two platforms for cross-platform interchange between lines U1 and U2/U3. The upper platform is used for services, while the lower one is designated for eastbound/inbound trains. In Hanover light-metro network, Kröpcke has three levels, one for blue lines, SW to NE, one for red lines, NW to SE, the red lines level and the yellow lines level are situated directly below each other. An interchange between red and yellow lines is possible at Aegidientorplatz where the platforms are situated the same way like Nürnberg Plärrer. Eastbound/outbound trains use the platform, westbound/inbound trains use the upper one. On Vienna U-Bahn line U3, the stations Neubaugasse, Zieglergasse, Herrengasse, Stephansplatz, trains towards Ottakring use the lower platform, trains towards Simmering the upper one. In Stephansplatz the line U1 crosses below these platforms, promenade Station in Singapore has split side platforms. Charlevoix De LÉglise Kennedy Town Station Sheung Wan Station Wan Chai Station Causeway Bay Station Sai Wan Ho Station Tin Hau Station Tai Wai Station Airport Station Day, John R, Reed, John

Short signal blocks on the Toronto Transit Commission subway system. A train (not visible) has just passed the most distant, leftmost signal, and the two most distant signals are red (''stop and stay'' aspect). The next closest signal is yellow (proceed with caution), and the nearest signal shows green (proceed).

The bridge over Niagara Creek Canyon. This cantilever suspension bridge was built in England in 1883 and first used in Canada crossing the Fraser River at Cisco where it became known as the Cisco Bridge. It was moved to Vancouver Island for the present crossing in 1910.

A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road or path at the same level, as opposed to the …

Most crossings in Europe and around the world are marked by some form of saltire (Saint Andrews Cross) to warn road users about a level crossing and/or about a level crossing with no barriers whatsoever. This cross is on a level crossing in Slovenia.

A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot (see below) is a railway facility or area where trains …

Opened in 2006, Berlin Hauptbahnhof is a large station at the crossing point of two major railways and features modern, abstract architecture. Berlin had a ring of terminus stations, similar to London and Paris, however they were gradually replaced with through stations from 1882 to 1952.

Broad Green station, Liverpool, shown in 1962, opened in 1830, is the oldest station site in the world still in use as a passenger station.

Opened in 1830 and reached through a tunnel, Liverpool's Crown Street railway station was the first ever railway terminus. The station was demolished after only six years, being replaced by Lime Street Station in the city centre. The tunnel still exists.

Looking from one train through another, with doors open on both sides, to a third train. At Barking in London, England eastbound Underground trains open their doors on both sides for cross-platform interchange with two main-line services, C2C and London Overground Barking - Gospel Oak, this photograph from inside one of the latter.

On a railway, single-line working refers to the practice where when one line out of two is blocked, trains are able to …

An example of single-line working: maintenance of way crews are working on two tracks (left) of a three-track line in the Czech Republic while a passenger train passes on the third track (right) in 2011.

A split platform is a station that has a platform for each track, split onto two or more levels. This configuration …

A pair of split level platforms in Harvard station of the Boston-Cambridge MBTA Red Line service. The upper (outbound) platform at left is empty, while the lower (inbound) platform is relatively crowded.